As I’ve been absent for a week or two now, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to publish this post. There are expectations across the internet about what a blog should and shouldn’t be. As an ADHD author writing an ADHD blog, I’ve taken care to ignore most of them. The fact is, ADHD comes with certain limitations and certain liberties largely related to this basic ADHD trait:

So if you have any doubts about what that might mean for you and your expectations of this blog, dear readers, read on.

3 (Formerly) Unwritten Rules of my ADHD Blog

1. You can expect 3 posts a week… Sometimes…

I trust my fellow ADHDers to understand that I’m working hard to be consistent, but I’m not making any promises to be a regular poster. My strategy for publishing content relies on batch working using my hyperfocus. That requires that A) I have the time to sit and hyperfocus and B) I have enough interest and motivation to spur me into hyperfocus.

It’s too difficult for me to start and stop and start and stop writing throughout the week or even throughout the month sometimes. So when I do sit down, I will do it over a day (or several) and I will write a dozen posts and schedule them. If I don’t get back to posts for a week or two (or more, but I hope not), it’s likely because I’m too distracted by my other loves or I just haven’t had the time to set aside and power through.

2. If I promise you something, I WILL deliver… eventually… unless I forget… or stop caring…

I do my best not to make promises that I may not keep. It’s difficult when you’re ADHD because one moment you’re so passionate about a topic or a project that you feel absolutely certain you will always be passionate about it. But then suddenly that particular thing is collecting dust in the corner of your house and furthest from your mind.

If I mention writing about something or creating something on the blog and you’re interested in it, let me know via email or the comments below. I’m much more likely to deliver on something even after I’ve lost interest when there are other people involved who would truly benefit from it.

3. “Deja-view” is not taboo!

If you feel like you’ve read it before, you may have… It’s possible I’ve written about something previously under some obscure title I thought I was cool at the time and forgotten about it. My interests tend to go in cycles and I might, from time to time, write about the same topic twice.

That said, I try to avoid duplications and I do search my content. But I just can’t trust myself to be thorough with my tags or titles and to think about things in the same way over time. If you read something that seems like “deja-view”, please let me know in the comments and, if possible, link the original. Perhaps, I will be able to combine the two and get one super-post, instead!

(And just so there’s no confusion, “deja-view” is a play on words. I know the word is “déjà vu”. I also know that it’s French and it literally translates to “already seen”. And that’s not because I googled it; it’s because I’m a language nerd.)

Bonus: Perseverance

I’m sure I will think of more rules to add over time, but for now, these three basic rules should put things into a realistic frame. As the author of the blog, I have to keep these things in mind also. When you’re and ADHD person, it can be tempting to get discouraged and give up. When you are bombarded with the advice of neurotypicals and expectations that you consistently fall short of, it’s frustrating and disheartening. The key, though, is to just do your best and to keep doing your best.

The more you press on and keep working towards the goal, with grace for yourself – despite the appearance of failure and criticism of others – the more you learn about yourself and grow. You’ll find ways to make it without being neurotypical by understanding your patterns. What gets you feeling like quitting? What gets you motivated? When you fall out, how long does it take you to come back to it? Do you put it off? Why? You have to go through the process over and over again to see patterns. You can’t just do it once or twice, or even three times.

Perseverance equips you with self-knowledge and knowledge of the task itself – whether that’s blogging, baking, painting, inventing, coding – anything! Perseverance lets you know that you can trust yourself to get to the things you want. If it’s something you’ve started and quit a dozen times, then that’s a good sign you need to quit quitting and stick with it.

So since this is my 5th blog, I’m determined to quit quitting. I’m going to keep sticking at it, even when I’m following the rules above instead of the rules of the professionals. Eventually, I hope to be on par with those who know how to do this right. But I also know that in order to get there, I have to work through where I’m at. I hope you’ll stick with me through the journey!